HS BASKETBALL: Lackawanna League boys teams eager to get back on courts

Paddy Casey spent most of this week shoveling snow instead of practicing basketball.

But he knows he and his Scranton Prep teammates are ready for the next challenge of the season.

It’s been a long few days filled with uncertainty that tested players’ patience leading into the second round of the PIAA basketball playoffs.

Housebound after a massive snowstorm put most of Northeast Pennsylvania at a standstill, Casey and the Cavaliers found out Thursday morning they will be in action tonight at 7:30 against Imhotep Charter at Quakertown High School in the Class 4A playoffs after the game had been postponed twice.

“It’s been really weird,” Casey said. “I just focused on the game. It’s tough going into a game of this magnitude without any practice. But, I always believe you prepare all season for a game like this.”

Scranton Prep (23-3) is facing Imhotep Charter

(27-2), which is the sixth-ranked team in the country, according to USA Today. The Panthers have a roster laden with Division I talent as guard Daron Russell is headed to Rhode Island, guard David Beatty is going to South Carolina and forward Koby Thomas is committed to Robert Morris.

This season, Scranton Prep won its third straight District 2 championship, had nonleague games against Archbishop Wood, Hazleton Area, Williamsport, Pottsville and Parkland, and scored a season-high 99 points in a PIAA first-round win over Salisbury — six days ago.

“Imhotep is a really good team,” Casey said. “We played against Imhotep a couple of years ago and Neumann-Goretti last year, so we are a little more ready. There is no culture shock here for us playing against teams from Philadelphia.

“We are really excited. This is why we played a tough schedule. And being so excited is what makes it tough waiting this out.”

Abington Heights (23-3) will play Martin Luther King High School (21-9), another Philadelphia school, at Parkland High School in Allentown at

8 p.m. in a Class 5A second-round game.

The Comets are red-hot in the postseason. After shooting 60 percent from the field against West Scranton in the District 2 final, they hit on 53 percent with 14 assists in a state win over Lampeter-Strasburg on March 10.

They hope the layoff won’t cool them.

“It’s the state playoffs so we are very excited to play,” Abington Heights guard Trey Koehler said. “We haven’t been able to get together much, so it’s different. We are going to bring our best effort and make sure we play a very good game.”

Mid Valley players were kept out of the school’s gym facility as the storm forced administrators to cancel classes.

The Spartans (24-3) are scheduled to play District 1 champion Valley Forge Military Academy (25-4) at Bethlehem Liberty High School today at 8 p.m.

“It’s just been tough because we are so used to either playing games or practicing and we haven’t been able to do that,” Mid Valley senior guard Noah Tanner said. “We have just been staying focused, doing what we can, watching film and scouting our opponent.”

Holy Cross senior center Malachi Phillips lives in Kingsley, Susquehanna County, an area hit particularly hard by the storm, piling up more than 30 inches.

Phillips and the Crusaders (19-8) face District 12 runner-up Constitution

(17-9) at Bethlehem Freedom High School at 6 p.m.

“It’s been tough, with all the open fields up here, the snow just gets blown right back onto the roads,” Phillips said. “We are ready. We have used the time to watch film and take notes on the game plan.

“We are excited about playing again.”

In Nicholson, where Susquehanna’s Mackenzie Steele lives, the storm dumped 27 inches. Her mother, Dawn, who teaches at Susquehanna, drove her to a shootaround Thursday, the first time she’d seen or talked to her teammates since Monday’s practice.

“Some of the girls told me they couldn’t even get out of their house,” Steele said. “You think you’re going to school, and then you’re not seeing them for three days.

“What we were dealt wasn’t the best situation we wanted to be in.”

It’s not ideal preparation for tonight’s Class 1A game game with Lourdes Regional at 7 at Pittston Area High School.

Old Forge junior Alexandra Nocera is hoping that her efforts during the storm will help her team get some positive vibes for tonight’s Class 2A 6:30 tip at Hazleton against Mahanoy Area.

“I actually shoveled for my neighbors,” Nocera said. “My oldest brother lives close so he called me up to come down and help our neighbors. Maybe that will bring us some good karma.”

Old Forge was able to practice Thursday night.

Nocera hopes the time spent shooting will benefit the Lady Devils.

“We had everything planned out before all the snow came, but it would have been bad if we weren’t able to get back into things,” Nocera said. “I didn't want to show up for the game and none of us had seen each other and it took a while for us to get into the flow.”

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